Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus

Iamblichus was a seminal Platonic philosopher whose views on the soul and the importance of ritual profoundly influenced subsequent thinkers such as Proclus, Damascius, and Dionysius the Areopagite. Iamblichus's vision of a hierarchical cosmos united by divine ritual became the dominant worldview for the entire medieval world, and played an important role in the Renaissance Platonism of Marsilio Ficino. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that he expected a reading of Iamblichus to cause a "revival in the churches." Yet, until recently, modern scholars have dismissed him, seeing theurgy as ritual magic or an attempt to manipulate the gods. Shaw, however, shows that theurgy was a subtle and intellectually sophisticated attempt to apply Platonic and Pythagorean teachings to the full expression of human existence in the material world. This new edition includes a foreword by John Milbank and Aaron Riches showing the Christian sacramental implications of Iamblichean theurgy, and a new preface from the author.

"Theurgy and the Soul remains the one essential work not only on the mysterious yet influential figure of Iamblichus, but also on the emergence of religious or theurgical Neoplatonism. Shaw presents the reasoning and classical pedigree behind the sometimes obscure doctrines and practices belonging to this often misunderstood school of thought. His analysis reveals it as a dynamic and distinct fo